Bulawayo City Council
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Bulawayo koBulawayo |
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View of Bulawayo's Central Business District (CBD) from Pioneer House by Prince Phumulani Nyoni. The CBD is 5.4 square kilometres and is in a grid pattern with 17 avenues and 11 streets.
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| Nickname(s): 'City of Kings', 'Skies', 'Bluez' or 'Bulliesberg' | |||
| Motto(s): Siyephambili | |||
 Location in Bulawayo Province |
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 Bulawayo
Location in Bulawayo Province
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| Coordinates: 20°10′12″S 28°34′48″E / 20.17000°S 28.58000°ECoordinates: 20°10′12″S 28°34′48″E / 20.17000°S 28.58000°E | |||
| Country | Zimbabwe | ||
| Province | Bulawayo | ||
| District | City of Bulawayo | ||
| Settled | 1840 | ||
| Incorporated (town) | 1897 | ||
| Incorporated (city) | 1943 | ||
| Divisions |
4 Districts, 29 Wards, 156 Suburbs | ||
| Government | |||
| • Type | Provincial Municipality | ||
| • Mayor | Martin Moyo | ||
| Area | |||
| • City | 1,706.8 km2 (659.0 sq mi) | ||
| • Water | 129.3 km2 (49.9 sq mi) | ||
| • Urban | 993.5 km2 (383.6 sq mi) | ||
| • Metro | 1,706.8 km2 (659.0 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation | 1,358 m (4,455 ft) | ||
| Population (2016) | |||
| • City | 1,200,337 | ||
| • Density | 700/km2 (1,800/sq mi) | ||
| • Urban | 1,205,675 | ||
| • Urban density | 2,305/km2 (5,970/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | CAT (UTC+2) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | not observed (UTC+2) | ||
| Area code(s) | 9 | ||
| Climate | Cwa | ||
| Website | citybyo |
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Bulawayo is the second-largest city in Zimbabwe after the capital Harare, with, as of the ever disputed 2012 census, a population of 653,337 while Bulawayo Municipal records indicate a population of 1,200,750. This understating of population by the government is due to the marginalisation of the Matabeleland region by the government since 1980 in a bid to avail less resources. With a population of 620,000 in 1992 Bulawayo cannot have a population of 653 337 20 years later when it is exhausting its land due to housing expansion. It is in Matabeleland, 439 km (273 mi) southwest of Harare, and is now treated as a separate provincial area from Matabeleland. The capital of Matabeleland North is now Lupane, as Bulawayo is a metropolitan province.
Colloquially Bulawayo is known by other names: "City of Kings", "Skies", "Bluez", or "Ntuthu ziyathunqa" — a Ndebele phrase for "smoke arising". This name arose from the city's historically large industrial base and specifically draws from the large cooling towers of the coal powered electricity generating plant situated in the city centre that once used to billow steam and smoke over the city. The majority of Bulawayo's population belongs to the Ndebele ethnic and language group.
For a long time, Bulawayo was regarded as the industrial centre of Zimbabwe, and it served as the hub to the country's rail network with the National Railways of Zimbabwe headquartered there because of its strategic position near Botswana and South Africa. It is the nearest large city to Hwange National Park, Matobo National Park and Victoria Falls.
The city was founded by the Ndebele king, Lobhengula, the son of King Mzilikazi who born of Matshobana who settled in modern-day Zimbabwe around the 1840s after the Ndebele people's great trek from Nguniland. The name Bulawayo comes from the Ndebele word KoBulawayo meaning "a place where he is being killed". It is thought that, at the time of the formation of the city, there was a civil war. A group of Ndebeles not aligned to Prince Lobengula were fighting him as they felt he was not the heir to the throne, hence he gave his capital the name "where he (the prince) is being killed". It is said that when King Lobengula named the place "KoBulawayo" his generals asked "who is being killed mtanenkosi (prince)?" and he replied "Yimi umntwanenkosi engibulawayo", meaning "it's me, the prince, who is being killed". At the time Lobengula was a prince fighting to ascend his father's (Mzilikazi) throne. It was common at the time for people to refer to Bulawayo as "KoBulawayo UmntwaneNkosi" "a place where they are fighting or rising against the prince". The name Bulawayo is imported from Nguniland which was once occupied by the Khumalo people. The place still exists: It is next to Richards Bay.
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